Wire connecting apparatus

ABSTRACT

Automatic wire connecting apparatus for making electrical interconnections between spaced apart terminal pins on a panel includes a dressing finger actuated by a helical rack and pinion arrangement connected to a single air cylinder actuator for rotating and linearly translating a dressing finger arm between a stored position and a working position. The dressing finger is mounted on a housing which is reciprocally moved with respect to a terminal pin by a pivotally mounted arm constantly biased in one direction by an air cylinder actuator and controlled for movement in both directions by a cam driven by an electrical stepping motor.

United States Patent [191 Harms et al.

[ WIRE CONNECTING APPARATUS [75] Inventors: William J. Harms, Nunica; Michael Paul Wing, Grand Haven, both of Mich.

[731 Assignee: Gardner-Denver Company, Quincy,

Ill.

22 Filed: Feb. 1, 1973 21 Appl. N6; 328,817

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 9/1963 805 et al. 29/203 B 3/1964 Self 29/203 D [451 Apr. 16, 1974 3,185,183 5/1964 Loy.....' 140/115 X Primary Examiner-Thomas l-l. Eager Attorney, Agent, or Firm M. E. Martin ABSTRACT Automatic wire connecting apparatus for making electrical interconnections between spaced apart terminal pins on a panel includes a dressing finger actuated by a helical rack and pinion arrangement connected to a single air cylinder actuator for rotating and linearly translating a dressing finger arm between a stored position and a working position. The dressing finger is mounted on a housing which is reciprocally moved with respect to a terminal pin by a pivotally mounted arm constantly biased in one direction by an air cylinder actuator and controlled for movement in both directions by a cam driven by an electrical stepping motor.

12 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures WIRE CONNECTING APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Automatic apparatus for connecting wires between selected p irs of terminal pins mounted in an array on a panel art well known and examples of such apparatus are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,103,735 to J. R. Bos et al. and 3,185,183 to F. W. Loy. Such apparatus is generally characterized by two wire connecting tools mounted on suitable carriage assemblies for movement in a coordinate manner to connect a wire between two spaced apart terminals. The large number of wire interconnections and the close spacing of the terminal pins requires that each wire be layed on the panel in a predetermined pattern. In order to form the desired patterns most automatic wire connecting machines inelude conductor wire engaging devices known as dressing fingers which are mounted on the machine for movement to predetermined positions during the wire connecting process and are disposed so that the wire is bent around the dressing fingers to form the desired pattern shape.

The arrangement of wire dressing fingers on known types of wire connecting apparatus is usually such that each dressing finger is mounted on an arm which is rotated between a retracted position and a working position so as to be properly located with respect to a length of wire just prior to bending the wire around the finger to form the desired wire pattern. Moreover, it is also desirable to provide for linear movement of the dressing finger arm so that suitable clearance is provided to permit the wire connecting tools to be positioned close together for interconnecting a pair of adjacent terminal pins. Prior art mechanism for operating dressing fingers on automatic wire connecting apparatus is relatively slow in operating speed and is also somewhat complicated. The operation of the dressing finger to move'from a retracted position to a working position and return to the retracted position is one limitation on the time required to complete an operating cycle of the wire connecting machine and therefore it is desirable to providerapid movement of the dressing finger with mechanism. that is reliable and uncomplicated.

A related problem in improving the operation of antomatic wire connecting apparatus concerns the need to accurately and rapidly move the dressing finger as well as the wire connecting tool to a position directly surrounding and over the terminal pins around which the wire is being routed or to which the wire is being connected. Movement toward or away from the wiring panel is commonly referred to inthe art of wire connecting apparatus as motion in the Z direction. Such motion must be controlled to accurately position the wire connecting tool when multiple wires are being connected to a given terminal pin. Furthermore, it is necessary to control the movement of the dressing finger and the wire connecting tool to limit the force with which the tool or finger engages a terminal pin in case a pin is bent or otherwise misaligned with respect to the associated tool or finger.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides an improved actuating mechanism for a wire dressing finger in automatic wire connecting apparatus wherein a combined rotating and linear translation of a dressing finger arm between retracted and working positions is obtained with a single pressure fluid acutator. The dressing finger actuating mechanism of the present invention advantageously utilizes a helical gear rack and pinion arrangement to reversibly rotate a dressing finger arm and reciprocally translate the arm between stored and working positions with reduced operating time and greater reliability than heretofore known mechanisms. With the dressing finger actuating mechanism of the present invention linear and rotating motion of the dressing finger is automatically accomplished in the desired sequence by a single pressure fluid cylinder actuator.

The present invention also provides improved mechanism for moving a dressing finger or wire connecting tool reciprocally into proper position with respect to the longitudinal axis of a terminal pin for precise location of a wire on a terminal. Moreover, the mechanism of the pesent invention for positioning a wire connecting tool or dressing finger in what is known in the art as the Z direction may be advantageously used on wire connecting apparatus in which the wiring panel is mounted in a vertical plane. The Z direction positioning mechanism of the present invention also provides for a controlled biasing force to reduce possible damage to the terminal pin and the wire connecting apparatus as well as prevent conductor wire pile-up on certain types of wire connections.

BREIF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front elevation of an automatic wire connecting apparatus having two wire connecting tools and two wire dressing fingers which include actuating mechanism in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view taken from the line 22 of FIG. 1',

FIG. 3 is a view taken substantially from the line 33 of FIG. 1 showing the dressing finger carriage with portions broken away to show the mechanism for moving the dressing finger housing in the Z direction;

FIG. 4 is a view taken from line 4-4 of FIG. 2; FIG. 5 is a section view taken along line 5-5 of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a view taken from line 6-6 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a detail section view taken along line 7-7 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a section view taken along line 88 of FIG.

FIG. 9 is a view of a portion of a typical wiring panel showing selected wiring patterns; and

FIG. 10 is a detail view of the dressing finger proper.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to the drawings and in particular to FIG. 1, an automatic wire connecting apparatus is illustrated and generally designated by the numeral 10. The apparatus 10 is of the general type disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,103,735 and 3,185,183 and is operable to electrically interconnect preselected terminal pins on a wiring panel 12 by applying one end of a flexible insulated conductor wire to one terminal pin and the other end of the wire to another terminal pin such as by wrapping stripped portions of the wire ends on the terminal pins in helical convolutions. The basic operational and structural features of such machines are well known andform no part of the present invention and, therefore, will not be explained in detail herein. The apparams is of the type inwhich the panel 12 is removably mountedon a vertical mounting fixture 14 and the terminal pins 16, of which only a representative number are shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, extend in a horizontal direction for the wiring process The apparatus 10 includes a main frame 18 upon which wire connecting tool support members or carriages 20 and 22 are-mounted for reversible movement in a horizontal or X direction as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 1. The tool carriages 20 and 22 are directly mounted on respective vertically disposed rotatable ball'bearing screws 24 and 26 and are also supported by cylindrical shafts 28 and 30 for sliding linear movement with respect thereto. Suitable linear motion bearings 32 are provided for supporting the carriage 22 with respect to the shaft 30. The carriage 20 is provided with a similar bearing arrangement, not shown. The carriages 20 and 22 are each engaged with the ball screws 24 and 26 by means of a nut 34, as shown by way of example, mounted stationary on carriage 22. In response to rotationof the ball screws the carriages 20 and 22 may beindependently controlled to move reversibly in the vertical of Y direction. Moreover, the shafts and ball screws are suitably mounted on members 36 and 3 8 which are associated with suitable mechanism on the frame 18, not shown, for moving the tool carriages 20 and 22 reversibly in the X direction. Suitable motor means 40 are provided on members 36 for rotatably driving the screws 24 and 26.

Referring to FIG. 2 also, the carriages 20 and 22 respectively support wire connecting tools 42 and 44 for reversible movement in the Z direction as-indicated in FIG. 2. The tools 42 and 44 are suitably mounted in V- shaped ways 46 which may comprise linear hydrostatic fluid bearings or other suitable linear bearing means. The wire connecting tools may be of the general type described-in theaforementioned U.S. patents or as disclosed in U.S.- Pat. No. 3,117,736 to F. W. Loy et al.

Thewire connecting tools 42 and 44 are controlled to b8 reversibly moved in the Z direction from a stored orretracted position as shown in FIG. 2 to a position in-which their respective conductor wrapping bits are disposed over selected terminals by suitable mechanism of a type'which will be explained in some detail herein. The carriages 20 and 22 and the wire connecting tools 42 and 44 are of substantially similar construction but are of the opposite hand.

Associated with the wire connecting tool carriages are dressing finger carriages 48 and 50 disposed on top of-th'e respective carriages 20 and 22. The carriages 48 and 50 are disposed to slide over the vertical shafts and ball screws and include suitable bearings 52 and 54 as shown'in FIG. 1 for the carriage 50. The carriages 48 and 50 are respectively connected to separate elongated tubular members 56 which pass through the carriages '20 and 22 and are operable to be engaged by suitable releasable clamping means, not shown, on members 38 to hold the carriages 48 and 50 in a predetermined location in the vertical or Y direction. When the tubular members 56 arenot clamped with respect to the members 38 the dressing finger carriages 48 and 50 are free to move vertically with the respective car- 'riages 20 and 22 when the latter carriages are driven in thevertical direction by the ball bearing screws.-The

dressing finger carriages 48 and 50 comprise support members for respective dressing finger housings 58 and 60 which are mounted in V-shaped ways 61, FIG. 4, on the carriages. The ways 61 comprise linear bearing means which support the housings 58 and 60 for reversible linear movement with respect to the carriages 48 and 50 in the Z direction. The housings 58 and 60 include mechanism to be described herein for actuating wire dressing fingers generally designated by numerals 62 and 64 between a stored or retracted position as shown in FIG. 1 and a working position as shown by the dashed lines for the dressing finger 62 in FIG. 2 and FIG. 4.

Referring to FIGS. 2 through 7, structural details of the dressing finger 62 and its actuating mechanism are. shown. The construction of the dressing finger 64 and its actuating mechanism are substantially the same. Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6 in particular, the housing 58 includes a transverse bore 66 in which are disposed bushings 68 and 70 which support a shaft member 72 for rotary as well as linear moton with respect to the housing. One end of the shaft 72 has a flange 74 to which is attached an arm 75. The shaft 72 includes an integrally formed helical gear 76 of conventional tooth form and having a preferred helix angle of about 45. The other end of shaft 72 includes a cam member 78 removably secured on the shaft. As shown in FIG. 6 the cam member 78 is characterized by a slot 80 and a stop portion 82 projecting radially outward on one side of the slot. A member 84 mounted on the housing 58 includes'a projection 86 which extends into the slot 80. A notch 88 in projection 86, FIG. 5, provides clearance to allow the shaft 72 and cam member 78 to rotate counterclockwise, viewing FIG. 6, when the shaft has translated linearly so that the cam member is aligned with the notch. A second stop portion 83 on cam member 78 is engageable with projection 86 to stop rotation of the shaft 72 in the working position of arm 75. Rotation of the shaft 72 in the opposite direction is also limited by engagement of the stop portion 82 with the projection 86 when the cam member is positioned in alignment with the notch 88 The housing 58 also includes a bore 90 disposed perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the shaft 72. Disposed within the bore 90 is a sleeve 92 which forms a cylinder chamber 94 for a reciprocable piston 96. The piston 96 includes an axially extending rod 98 disposed for reversible linear movement in a tubular bearing 99. A portion of rod 98 is cut away to form a helical gear rack 100 engaged with the helical gear 76 on the shaft 72 as shown in FIGS. 5 and 7. Suitable passage means 102 and 104 are formed in the housing 58 and lead to opposite ends of the chamber 94. The passage means 102 and 104 respectively. are in communication with conduits 106 and 108 which are connected to suitable control valves, not shown, whereby pressure fluid may be supplied alternately to opposite ends of the chamber 94 to actuate the piston 96.

The housing 58 also includes a pressure fluid cylinder 110 having apiston 112 which is operable to engage a lever 114 on the dressing finger arm 75 when the arm is in the working position. Referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 10, the lever 114 is engaged with a member 116 to which is attached a dressing finger proper 118. The dressing finger 118 is movably disposed in a sleeve 120 attached to the arm 75 and includes a bore 121 for receiving a terminal pin. At a predetermined time in the operation of the apparatus and when the dressing finger arm 75 is in the working position, the cylinder 110 is energized to cause the lever 114 and member 116 to move the dressing finger 118 telescopically into the sleeve 120 to slide a wire off the end of the finger in a known way.

The required movement of the dressing finger 62 as provided by the actuating means formed by piston 96 and shaft 72 and the associated helical gearing can be understood by viewing FIGS. 1, 2, and 9. In FIG. 1 the connecting tools 42 and 44 are positioned for interconnecting two adjacent closely spaced terminals as illustrated by the wired connection 122 in FIG. 9. However, when the dressing fingers 62 and 64 are required to be used for laying a wire in a pattern, as shown by the wired connection 124 in FIG. 9, they must be aligned with and disposed over terminals 17 and 19 in rows adjacent to the terminal rows which include terminals which will be connected to the wire ends. Accordingly, if the dressing fingers remained in the position required for forming the connection 124 the tools 42 and 44 could not be brought close enough together to form the connection 122 due to the dressing fingers and their associated arm structure interfering with each other. The rotating movement of the dressing finger arm 75 is also desirable so that the dressing finger can be moved from a retracted position to a position, as shown by the dashed lines in FIG. 2, which places the dressing finger under a conductor wire 126 for engaging the wire when the tool 42 moves downwardly in the Y direction.

Accordingly, at a predetermined time in the operation of the apparatus 10 to make a wiring connection between two spaced apart terminals suitable controls, not shown, are actuated to supply pressure fluid through passage 102 while venting passage 104 to cause movement of piston 86 to the left, viewing FIG. 5.Engagement of the helical gear 76 and rack 100 will tend to rotate the shaft 72, which rotation is prevented by engagement of slot 80 on the cam member 78 with projection 86. A reaction force between the rack 100 and gear 76 will result in axial linear translation of the shaft 72 and dressing finger arm.75 until the cam member 78 is alignedwith notch 88 and also abutted against bushing 68. Continued movement of the piston and rack 100 will then rotate the shaft and dressing finger arm until stop 83 engages projection 86 corresponding to the working position shown in FIG. 2. To return the dressing finger arm 75 to the retracted position, passage 104 is pressurized while passage 102 is vented to push the piston-96 and rack 100 to the right, viewing FIG. 5, which will rotate shaft 72 until stop portion 82 on the cam member 78 engages the projection 86 which also aligns slot 80 with the projection 86. Continued movement of the piston and rack 100 will cause shaft 72 to slide axially in bushings 68 and 70 until the flange 74 engages the end of bushing 70 as shown by the position illustrated in FIG. 5. When the shaft 72 is linearly translated to the position of FIG. 5 the projection 86 again becomes disposed in the slot 80 on cam member 78.

It may be appreciated from the foregoing that the helical gear 76 and rack 100 and the associated cam member 78 provide an advantageous actuating mechanism which combines the required linear and rotary movement of the dressing finger arm 75 in the desired sequence and with only a single power cylinder. The cylinder and piston 96, although advantageously used,

could be replaced by electrical power means or any suitable means for reciprocably moving the rack 100. In the operation of the dressing finger 62 movement from the retracted position to the working position is desirably performed prior to movement of the dressing finger housing 58 in the Z direction to place the hollow dressing finger 118 over a predetermined terminal pin. Mechanism for moving the dressing finger housing 58 reciprocably in the Z direction will now. be described. Such mechanism may also be advantageously used with other conductor wire engaging means such as the wire connecting tools 42 and 44 for producing movement of same in the Z direction.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 8 the dressing finger carriage 48 includes a detachable housing portion 132 within which is disposed a rotatable shaft 134 mounted on suitable bearings 136 and 138. An arm 140, mounted on the shaft 134 for pivotal movement with respect to the housing portion 132, projects through an opening 142 in the housing portion and has a cam roller 144 mounted on one end. As shown in FIG. 3, the cam roller 144 on arm is disposed in a slot 145 formed on the housing 58. The opposite end of the arm 140 also includes a cam roller 146' which is engaged with a pressure fluid actuator comprising a piston 148 disposed in a cylinder chamber 150 formed in the carriage 48. A passage 152 in the carriage 48 opens into the chamber 150 for supplying pressure fluid from a suitable source, not shown, for moving the piston 148 to pivot arm 140 whereby the dressing finger housing 58 is yieldably urged in the Z direction toward the wiring panel mounted on the fixture 14.

A hub 154 is rotatably mounted on the shaft 134 and includes a gear portion 156 and a radially projecting tab 158 upon which is mounted a pin 160. The pin 160 projects into a notch 162 formedin the arm 140 to prevent rotation of the arm 140 to move the housing 58 toward the fixture 14 except in response to rotation of the gear 156. The gear 156 is engaged with a worm gear 164 which is suitably connected to a reversible rotary electrical stepping motor 166 of the type which is responsive to a pulse type electrical signal supplied to motor windings to drive the worm gear 164 in incremental amounts of rotation. Accordingly, in response to'predeter mined electrical signals being supplied to the motor 166 from a suitable control circuit, not shown, the gear 156 is rotatably driven to allow the arm 140, under the urging of piston 148, to move the housing 58 a controlled amount in the Z direction toward a wiring panel on the fixture 14. Since the dressing finger 118 is moved with its housing toward the fixture 14 only under the urging of pressure fluid in the cylinder chamber 150 the force with which the housing is moved may be controlled by the pressure of the fluid admitted to the chamber by way of passage 152. When the motor 166 is operated to drive the gear 156 in the clockwise direction, viewing FIG. 3, the housing 58 is moved away from the wiring panel by the positive engagement of pin 160 with arm 140. The control of the force with which the dressing finger moves over a terminal pin on a wiring panel is important to preventing damage to a terminal pin or the dressing finger and its associated mechanism should there be slight misalignment between the pin and the finger itself. Moreover, since the same type of mechanism is preferably used for moving the wire connecting tools reversibly in the Z direction the same protection against damage to the terminal and the connecting tool may be provided. Also with certain types of wire connecting tools such as these disclosed in U.'S. Pat. Nos. 3,117,736 and 3,185,183 axial movement of the tool away from the terminal must be provided for during the actual wire connecting operation. Accordingly, by varying the pressure of the fluid urging the piston to move the arm a' controlled biasing force may be provided for urging the tooltoward the terminal. The improvements in automatic wire connecting apparatus disclosed herein provide for more rapid and reliable operation of the apparatus to complete a wire connecting operation between two spaced apart terminal pins on a wiring panel. The actuation of the dressing finger arm 75 from a retracted position to a working position and return to the retracted position is controlled independent of the precisely controlled movement of the dressing finger housing 58 in the Z direction. Preferably, when suitable separation of the carriages 48 and 50 in the X direction has been performed the dressing finger arms are actuated to linearly translate and rotate to the working position to engage a wire to be layed in apredetermined pattern. The connecting tools and dressing finger housings are then moved toward the wiring panel when the proper coordinate position of each tool and dressing finger has been reached. T he precise position in the Z direction is controlled by stepping motors such as the motor 166. Once the dressing finger has been retracted in the sleeve 120 to lay a wire on the panel, the housing 58 is moved away from the panel in the Z direction and the arm 75 is rotated to retract to the stored position independent of the operation of the connecting tools.

What is claimed is: 1.;ln a wire connecting apparatus; wire connecting tool means mounted for movement in a coordinate manner to connect a flexible conductor wire between spaced apart terminal pins on a wiring panel; a dressing finger mounted on said apparatus and movable ina coordinate manner to be positioned for engaging a flexible conductor wire to be interconnected between two spaced apart terminal pins such that said conductor wire is bent around said dressing finger to form a predetermined pattern on said wiring panel, said dressing finger including a housing, an arm for carrying said dressing finger mounted on said housing; and, means, connected to said arm for rotating and linearly moving said arm with respect to said housing between a retracted position and a working position for engaging a conductor wire to be bent around said dressing finger. 2. The invention set forth in claim 1 wherein: said means includes a shaft connected to said arm and movably mounted on said housing, and said means includes power actuator means for rotating said shaft and linearly moving said shaft reversibly along the axis of rotation of said shaft. 3. The invention set'forth in claim 2 wherein: said means includes a helical gear mounted on said shaft and engaged with helical gear means connected to 'said power actuator means. 4. The invention set forth in claim 3 wherein: said-helical gear means comprises a helical gear rack mounted in said housing for reversible linear movement to provide reversible linear and rotary movement of said shaft for moving said dressing finger between a retracted position and a working position.

5. The invention set forth in claim 4 wherein:

said power actuator means comprises a pressure fluid cylinder and piston actuator connected to said helical gear rack.

6. The invention set forth in claim 4 wherein:

said means includes means disposed on said shaft for causing said shaft to linearly translate from said retracted position followed by rotary movement to said working position.

7. The invention set forth in claim 6 wherein:

said means disposed on said shaft includes a cam member including a slot engageable with a projection disposed on said housing for preventing rotary movement of said shaft while said shaft is moving linearly.

8. In a wire connecting apparatus for connecting a plurality of flexible conductor wires between spaced apart parallel terminal pins on a wiring panel in predetermined patterns;

conductor wire engaging means on said apparatus movable in a coordinate manner for disposing a conductor wire on said panel in a predetermined pattern by movement into position over a predetermined terminal pin, said conductor wire engaging means including a support member for movement in X and Y directions and a housing mounted on said support member for reversible movement in a Z direction with respect to the longitudinal axis of 1 said terminal pin;

means for yieldably urging said housing to move in the Z direction toward said terminal pin; and,

power means cooperable with said means for yieldably urging said housing for limiting the Z direction movement of said housing toward said terminal pin to a predetermined position and for moving said housing in the Z direction away from said terminal pm. i

9. The invention set forth in claim 8 wherein:

said means for yieldably urging said housing to move toward said terminal pin includes a pressure fluid actuator responsive to pressure fluid admitted thereto for biasing said housing toward said terminal pin.

10. The invention set forth in claim 9 wherein:

said means for yieldably urging said housing to move toward said terminal pin includes an arm member pivotally mounted on said support member between said housing and said pressure fluid actuator and having one end portion engaged with said housing and an opposite end portion engaged with said pressure fluid actuator, and said power means includes a movable stop engageable with said arm member for limiting the pivotal movement thereof to limit the Z direction movement of said housing toward said terminal pin.

11. The invention set forth in claim 10 wherein:

said power means includes an electrical stepping motor for moving said stop in one direction to allow said arm member to move said housing in the Z direction toward said terminal pin under the urging of said pressure fluid actuator and for moving said stop in the opposite direction for driving said arm member to move said housing in the Z direction away from said terminal pin.

12. The invention set forth in claim 11 wherein:

said am member is cooperable with said stop in such a way that said stop substantially limits the movement of said housing only in the Z direction toward said terminal pin. 

1. In a wire connecting apparatus; wire connecting tool means mounted for movement in a coordinate manner to connect a flexible conductor wire between spaced apart terminal pins on a wiring panel; a dressing finger mounted on said apparatus and movable in a coordinate manner to be positioned for engaging a flexible conductor wire to be interconnected between two spaced apart terminal pins such that said conductor wire is bent around said dressing finger to form a predetermined pattern on said wiring panel, said dressing finger including a housing, an arm For carrying said dressing finger mounted on said housing; and, means connected to said arm for rotating and linearly moving said arm with respect to said housing between a retracted position and a working position for engaging a conductor wire to be bent around said dressing finger.
 2. The invention set forth in claim 1 wherein: said means includes a shaft connected to said arm and movably mounted on said housing, and said means includes power actuator means for rotating said shaft and linearly moving said shaft reversibly along the axis of rotation of said shaft.
 3. The invention set forth in claim 2 wherein: said means includes a helical gear mounted on said shaft and engaged with helical gear means connected to said power actuator means.
 4. The invention set forth in claim 3 wherein: said helical gear means comprises a helical gear rack mounted in said housing for reversible linear movement to provide reversible linear and rotary movement of said shaft for moving said dressing finger between a retracted position and a working position.
 5. The invention set forth in claim 4 wherein: said power actuator means comprises a pressure fluid cylinder and piston actuator connected to said helical gear rack.
 6. The invention set forth in claim 4 wherein: said means includes means disposed on said shaft for causing said shaft to linearly translate from said retracted position followed by rotary movement to said working position.
 7. The invention set forth in claim 6 wherein: said means disposed on said shaft includes a cam member including a slot engageable with a projection disposed on said housing for preventing rotary movement of said shaft while said shaft is moving linearly.
 8. In a wire connecting apparatus for connecting a plurality of flexible conductor wires between spaced apart parallel terminal pins on a wiring panel in predetermined patterns; conductor wire engaging means on said apparatus movable in a coordinate manner for disposing a conductor wire on said panel in a predetermined pattern by movement into position over a predetermined terminal pin, said conductor wire engaging means including a support member for movement in X and Y directions and a housing mounted on said support member for reversible movement in a Z direction with respect to the longitudinal axis of said terminal pin; means for yieldably urging said housing to move in the Z direction toward said terminal pin; and, power means cooperable with said means for yieldably urging said housing for limiting the Z direction movement of said housing toward said terminal pin to a predetermined position and for moving said housing in the Z direction away from said terminal pin.
 9. The invention set forth in claim 8 wherein: said means for yieldably urging said housing to move toward said terminal pin includes a pressure fluid actuator responsive to pressure fluid admitted thereto for biasing said housing toward said terminal pin.
 10. The invention set forth in claim 9 wherein: said means for yieldably urging said housing to move toward said terminal pin includes an arm member pivotally mounted on said support member between said housing and said pressure fluid actuator and having one end portion engaged with said housing and an opposite end portion engaged with said pressure fluid actuator, and said power means includes a movable stop engageable with said arm member for limiting the pivotal movement thereof to limit the Z direction movement of said housing toward said terminal pin.
 11. The invention set forth in claim 10 wherein: said power means includes an electrical stepping motor for moving said stop in one direction to allow said arm member to move said housing in the Z direction toward said terminal pin under the urging of said pressure fluid actuator and for moving said stop in the opposite direction for driving said arm member to move said housing in the Z direction away from said terminal pin.
 12. The invention set forth in claim 11 wherein: said arm member is cooperable with said stop in such a way that said stop substantially limits the movement of said housing only in the Z direction toward said terminal pin. 